Lord

Click here to view graphically

The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.

In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.

In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:

  • referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
  • meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
  • as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
  • or, most often, referring to Jesus

In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.

Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”

When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):

  • Navajo: “the one who has charge”
  • Mossi: “the one who has the head” (the leader)
  • Uduk: “chief”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “the one who commands”
  • Kpelle: “person-owner” (a term which may be applied to a chief)
  • Central Pame: “the one who owns us” (or “commands us”)
  • Piro: “the big one” (used commonly of one in authority)
  • San Blas Kuna: “the great one over all” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Guhu-Samane: Soopara (“our Supervisor”) (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
  • Balinese: “Venerated-one” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Yanesha’: “the one who carries us” (source: Nida 1952, p. 159)
  • Northern Emberá: Dadjirã Boro (“our Head”)
  • Rarotongan: Atu (“master or owner of a property”)
  • Gilbertese: Uea (“a person of high status invested with authority to rule the people”)
  • Rotuman: Gagaja (“village chief”)
  • Samoan: Ali’i (“an important word in the native culture, it derives from the Samoan understanding of lordship based on the local traditions”)
  • Tahitian: Fatu (“owner,” “master”)
  • Tuvalu: Te Aliki (“chief”)
  • Fijian: Liuliu (“leader”) (source for this and six above: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1994, p. 329ff. )
  • Bacama: Həmə miye: “owner of people” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
  • Hopi: “Controller” (source: Walls 2000, p. 139)
  • Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
  • Ghomala’: Cyəpɔ (“he who is above everyone,” consisting of the verb cyə — to surpass or go beyond — and pɔ — referring to people. No human can claim this attribute, no matter what his or her social status or prestige.” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn )
  • Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
  • Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)

    We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.

    New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.

    Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )

  • Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
  • Angami Naga: Niepu (“master,” “owner”)
  • Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
  • Ao Naga: Kibuba (“human master,” “teacher,” “owner of property,” etc.) (source for this and two above: Nitoy Achumi in The Bible Translator 1992 p. 438ff. )
  • Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
  • Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
  • Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
  • Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
  • Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
  • Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
  • Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)

Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”

See also Father / Lord.

Translation commentary on Matthew 11:25

At that time (so also Good News Translation) is a temporal marker which loosely relates this passage to the context; this same formula occurs again in 12.1; 14.1. New American Bible separates this entire passage from the context by introducing it with “On one occasion Jesus spoke thus:….” Other translations have had “Then” or “It was then that Jesus….”

In place of the Greek word order (I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth), Good News Translation attempts a more natural order for the opening of prayers in English: “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you.”

In the Greek thank very frequently has the meaning “confess,” but it may also mean “admit,” “agree,” or even “thank” or “praise” (Moffatt, New American Bible). Here “thank” or “praise” are most appropriate.

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus teaches his disciples to address God as “Our Father” (Matt 6.9), and in his own prayer in Gethsemane he addresses God as “My Father” (26.39, 42). In languages where Father used as a term of address must have a possessive, translators should say “my Father.” There will also be a few situations where “God my Father” is necessary, lest readers think Jesus is praying to Joseph, his earthly father.

Lord of heaven and earth, a literal rendering of the Greek text, means “the Lord who rules heaven and earth” or “the ruler of heaven and earth.”

Lord can be “ruler,” “owner,” or “master,” or whatever title in a language is used for the one who controls the universe and to whom the whole universe owes allegiance.

Heaven and earth can be translated literally or as “the whole universe.”

We pointed out above that Good News Translation has put this phrase in a more natural word order. Many translators will do something similar. Both Father and Lord of heaven and earth refer to the same person, but in many languages to put these two phrases together as they appear here would seem to refer to two different people. In such cases translators will say something like “My Father, you who are Lord of heaven and earth, I thank you…” or “My Father, you are the Lord of the whole universe. I thank you….”

Thou hast hidden … from the wise and understanding: hidden is the same verb used in 5.14; it is found again in 13.35, 44; 25.18, 25. Here it may be “made so they can’t be seen by wise and educated people” or “kept them where the wise and clever people can’t see them.”

The wise and understanding is rendered in a variety of ways by the major English translations:

• “the wise and the learned” (Moffatt, Good News Translation)

• “the learned and the clever” (New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible)

• “the learned and wise” (New English Bible)

• “the learned and intelligent” (An American Translation)

• “the wise and clever” (Barclay)

• “the clever and intelligent” (Phillips)

The same two adjectives appear in the Greek text of Isaiah 29.14, which is quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1.19. It is doubtful that there is intended to be any real contrast between these two terms, since both are widely used to describe people of great wisdom and insight. In some languages the best solution may be to use only one term, while other languages may have an idiomatic expression sufficient to incorporate the meaning of both Greek words. It is possible also to use an adjective plus an intensifier; for example, “very wise” or “very clever.” The wise and understanding refers to people, and many languages will require that this be explicit, as in “the wise and clever people.”

Revealed is the same verb used in 10.26 and contrasts here with hidden; it is found twice again in Matthew: verse 27; 16.17. Here it may be rendered “shown,” “let them see,” “made them to know about,” or “let them understand.”

Babes: the primary meaning of this word is “infant” or “child.” It may also mean “immature,” “underage” (see Luther 1984, Zürcher Bibel), or “innocent.” When contrasted with adjectives such as “wise” and “learned,” it may mean “unspoiled by learning” or “unspoiled by human instruction.” Good News Translation: (“unlearned”) and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“ignorant”) are closer to this category, while a number of other translations retain essentially the root meaning: “mere children” (Phillips, Jerusalem Bible), “children” (An American Translation), and “merest children” (New American Bible). For American readers neither New English Bible (“the simple”) nor Moffatt (“simple-minded”) are adequate, for they each imply feeblemindedness. The context suggests a contrast between persons who claim a sophisticated knowledge of God and those who, without making this claim, are able to recognize the presence of God in Jesus Christ.

From this discussion of babes it should be clear that “young people” or “children” would really give the wrong idea. “Uneducated” or even “those who don’t yet know much” are better translations.

As we point out above, it is not at all clear what these things refer to. It would probably be wrong to make it refer back to verses 20-24, or ahead to verses 27-30. For this reason the reference should not be specified. Good News Translation presents a helpful model. These models are similar: “I thank you that you have not allowed the wise and educated people to understand what you have shown clearly to those who do not know much” and “I praise you for what you have done. You have revealed to ignorant people the very truths you have not permitted the wise and clever to see at all.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .